1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for direct or indirect application of a liquid or pasty medium onto a traveling material web, notably of paper or cardboard. Furthermore, the invention relates to a method for direct or indirect application of a liquid or pasty medium onto such a material web.
2. Description of the Related Art
Apparatuses and methods for direct or indirect application of a liquid or pasty medium onto a traveling material web are typically used or applied in conjunction with so-called coating systems in order to coat one or both sides of a traveling material web. The web can include, for instance, paper, cardboard or a textile material. One or several layers of the medium, for example, color, starch, impregnating fluid or the like, are applied with an applicator.
In the so-called direct application, the liquid or pasty medium is applied by an applicator directly onto the surface of the traveling.material web. During application, the web is backed by a revolving counter surface, for example, an endless belt, or a counter roll or backing roll. In the indirect application of the medium, the liquid or pasty medium, in contrast, is first applied onto a substrate surface, for example, the surface of a backing roll configured as an applicator roll. The liquid or pasty medium is transferred from the applicator roll to the material web in a nip through which the material web passes.
A categorical apparatus for direct application of a liquid or pasty medium onto a traveling material web, notably of paper or cardboard, is known from German Document No. DE 42 05 313 A1, assigned to the assignee of the present invention. This apparatus includes a rotatable backing roll which in part is wrapped by the material web and supports a side of the material web facing the backing roll. The backing roll surface and the material web form a cuneiformly tapering entrance gore and an exit gore. Furthermore, the apparatus includes an applicator disposed opposite the backing roll and serving to coat a side of the material web away from the backing roll with the medium. A stripper removes a boundary layer of air entrained by the material web. The stripper is arranged, based on the direction of rotation of the backing roll, before the applicator. The air boundary layer stripper serves here to avoid disturbing effects of air in the entrance gore between the material web and the medium applied onto the material web. In other words, an undesirable air inclusion is avoided on the side of the material web on which the medium is applied, that is, on the side away from the backing roll.
Also known, from German Document No. EP 0 556 675 A1, assigned to the assignee of the present invention, is an apparatus comparable with that of the aforementioned German Document No. DE 42 05 313 A1, but for indirect application of a liquid or pasty coating color onto a traveling material web. This apparatus includes a roll applicator with an applicator roll rotating in a coating color sump or bath, as well as a backing roll disposed directly opposite the applicator roll and wrapped in part by a material web. The material web passes through the nip formed by the applicator roll and the backing roll, in which nip the coating color is transferred to the material web. Based on the direction of rotation of the backing roll, an air boundary layer stripper is arranged before the nip and in the cuneiform area formed by the contours of the opposing rolls. The stripper serves, the same as in German Document No. DE 42 05 313 A1, to avoid an undesirable air inclusion on the side of the material web on which the coating medium is applied.
Comparable with the apparatus according to German Document No. EP 0 556 675 A1 for indirect application of a liquid or pasty coating color onto a traveling material web, is a further apparatus disclosed in U.S. Patent Document No. 5,506,005. Instead of an air boundary layer stripper of the previously described type, however, this apparatus possesses a material web pressure system which, based on the direction of travel of the material web, is arranged behind the line of contact between the backing roll and the material web running onto the backing roll. That is, the material web pressure system is arranged behind the cuneiform entrance gore formed by the backing roll surface and the material web, and opposite the material web side away from the backing roll. The apparatus presses the material web onto the backing roll. For that purpose, an air jet is blown at a pressure of at least 2.5 kPa out of the material web pressure system and at the material web surface being coated. The material web pressure system serves to prevent an undesirable air inclusion between the backing roll surface and the material web side facing the backing roll.
With these conventional apparatuses and the associated method, however, it has been found that the air boundary layer entrained both by the material web and the backing roll can proceed easily between the backing roll surface and the material web. This causes the material web to form a bubble at the point of application or on a metering or treatment element preceding or succeeding the point of application. Such a bubble results in coating defects or wrinkles and, thus, in an appreciable impairment of the coating quality. Use of the prior material web pressure system has not, until now, been able to entirely solve this technical problem. It has been noted that, despite high contact pressures, undesirable air inclusions still proceed between the backing roll surface and the material web, specifically with varying material web properties and high web speeds.
The present invention further improves a categorical apparatus with respect to the previously illustrated difficulties of the air inclusions caused by air boundary layers, and thereby enables an increase in the achievable coating quality. The present invention also creates a suitable method for direct or indirect application of a liquid or pasty medium onto a traveling material web, which method extensively avoids the drawbacks associated with the prior art.
This apparatus for direct or indirect application of a liquid or pasty medium onto a traveling material web, notably of paper or cardboard, includes at least one rotatable backing roll which in part is wrapped by the material web and supports a side of the material web facing the backing roll. The backing roll surface and the material web form a cuneiformly tapering entrance gore and an exit gore. Moreover, the apparatus includes at least one applicator opposing the backing roll. The applicator serves to coat a material web side away from the backing roll with the medium and/or to further treat the coated material web side. The apparatus also includes at least one air boundary layer stripper serving to remove an air boundary layer entrained by the backing roll and/or the material web. The stripper is arranged before the applicator, based on the direction of rotation of the backing roll. The at least one air boundary layer stripper is arranged in the entrance gore between the backing roll surface and the material web side near the backing roll. To be understood as an applicator in the purport of the invention is any suitable applicator, for example, nozzle applicators, open-jet nozzle applicators (xe2x80x9cJet-Flow-Fxe2x80x9d), so-called SDTA applicators (short dwell time applicators), LDTA applicators (long dwell time applicators), applicators with an applicator chamber, and the like.
The inventors of the present invention have recognized that particular significance attaches, in view of the underlying technical problem, to the effect of the air boundary layer entrained by the backing roll surface and the material web side facing the backing roll. The inventional arrangement of the air boundary layer stripper can easily and effectively remove, deflect or bar the air boundary layer, entrained by both the backing roll and the material web side near the backing roll, before the material web runs at the tip of the entrance gore onto the backing roll surface. The apparatus according to the invention has also proved very effective at high material web speeds. The manipulation of the boundary layer occurs directly on those sides of the material web and the backing roll which are afflicted with the boundary layer, and which run after passage of the entrance gore tip onto one another. Therefore, a more efficient removal of the boundary layer is realizable with varying or specific material web properties, for example, with a rough surface structure, which entrains more air than a smooth structure. Coating defects or undesirable wrinkling at the point of application or on a metering or treatment element preceding or following the point of application, attributable to air inclusions, are minimized as compared to the prior art. The solution according to the invention guarantees a defined material web contact with the backing roll and contributes to increasing the achievable quality of the product made with the apparatus according to the invention.
A configuration feature of the invention provides for arranging the.air boundary layer stripper in the immediate vicinity of the entrance gore tip. The air boundary layer entrained by the backing roll surface, or the material web side near the backing roll, is removed directly before the material web runs at the entrance gore tip onto the backing roll surface. A new boundary layer is thus prevented from forming in the surface area substantially free of a boundary layer, and air inclusions attributable to the boundary layer, between backing roll surface and material web, are effectively avoided.
In another embodiment of the inventional apparatus, the air boundary layer stripper includes at least one suctioning system featuring at least one suction opening coordinated with the backing roll surface and/or the material web side near the backing roll. The suctioning system serves to suck off the air boundary layer entrained by the backing roll and/or the material web. Undesirable air inclusions caused by the boundary layer, between the backing roll surface and the side of the material web near the backing roll, are in this way effectively avoided.
In yet another embodiment, the air boundary layer stripper includes at least one blowing system ejecting at least one gaseous medium and having at least one discharge opening for the gaseous medium that is coordinated with the backing roll surface and/or the side of the material web near the backing roll. The discharge opening directs the flow of the discharging gaseous medium in a direction opposite to the direction of rotation of the backing roll on the backing roll surface and/or substantially opposite to the traveling direction of the material web on its side facing the backing roll. Thereby, the air boundary layer entrained by the backing roll surface and/or the material web side facing the backing roll is prevented from proceeding between the backing roll surface and the side of the material web near the backing roll. Air can be employed as the gaseous medium, but other gaseous mediums are also suitable, however, depending on certain operating parameters of the apparatus and certain effects to be achieved.
Another embodiment of the inventional apparatus again provides for the air boundary layer stripper to include at least one blowing system ejecting a gaseous medium and featuring at least one discharge opening for the gaseous medium. At least one deflecting element is coordinated with the discharge opening and deflects the flow of the issuing gaseous medium in a direction substantially opposite to the direction of rotation of the backing roll on the backing roll surface and/or substantially opposite to the traveling direction of the material web on its side near the backing roll. Thereby, the air boundary layer entrained by the backing roll surface and/or the material web side near the backing roll is prevented from proceeding between the backing roll surface and the side of the material web facing the backing roll. Possible as deflection elements in the purport of the invention, for example, are one or several baffles or deflection channels arranged before the discharge opening. The position of the baffles or deflection channels relative to the discharge opening and/or their geometry is adjustable, if needed, manually or automatically. According to another inventional variant of solution, the air boundary layer stripper includes at least one scraper system that features at least one scraper. element which is coordinated with the side of the material web near the backing roll surface and/or the backing roll. The at least one scraper element removes or deflects the air boundary layer entrained by the backing roll surface and/or the side of the material web facing the backing roll. The scraper element, or its free scraper edge, may be positioned a distance smaller than the boundary layer thickness from the backing roll surface and/or the side of the material web facing the backing roll. Alternatively, the arrangement of the scraper element may be such that it touches the backing roll surface and/or the side of the material web near the backing roll. Thus, the scraper element strips the air boundary layer away and prevents associated air inclusions from proceeding between the backing roll surface and the side of the material web facing the backing roll. Usable as scraper elements, e.g., are substantially rigid or elastically deformable blades and the like. Furthermore, the scraper system may include suitable adjustment and/or positioning systems as well as control and/or regulating systems for exact adjustment of the scraper element.
Lastly, the inventional apparatus can include at least one further air boundary layer stripper which, based on the direction of rotation of the backing roll, is arranged before the applicator and is coordinated with the side of the material web away from the backing roll. This further air boundary layer stripper removes the air boundary layer entrained by the far material web side and may be a structure known as such, substantially as described in German Document No. DE 42 05 313 A1 or EP 0 556 675 A1, assigned to the assignee of the present invention. Also avoidable by this measure is an undesirable air inclusion on the side of the material web on which the liquid or pasty medium is applied, that is, on the side away from the backing roll. This is also conducive to increasing the achievable coating quality.
A method for direct or indirect application of a liquid or pasty medium onto a traveling material web, notably of paper or cardboard, which in part wraps around at least one rotatable backing roll supporting a material web side near the backing roll, the backing roll surface and the material web forming a cuneiformly tapering entrance gore and an exit gore, includes the following steps, but not mandatorily in the stated order:
removing an air boundary layer entrained by the backing roll and/or the material web at least at a point located in the entrance gore, in relation to the direction of rotation of the backing roll, before the point of coating application and between the backing roll surface and the material web side near the backing roll; and
coating a side of the material web away from the backing roll with the medium and/or further treating the coated material web side. The two above steps can occur in the operation simultaneously. The air boundary layer strippers and applicators illustrated above in conjunction with the apparatus according to the invention can be employed for removal of the air boundary layer and for coating the material web. The inventional method offers the advantages already illustrated in detail in conjunction with the inventional apparatus.
According to another aspect of the inventional method, the air boundary layer is removed in the immediate vicinity of the tip of the entrance gore.
In another embodiment of the inventional method, the air boundary layer is removed by suctioning the side of the material web facing the backing roll and/or by suctioning the backing roll surface. Suctioning is performed by a suitable suctioning system, such as illustrated above, e.g., in conjunction with the inventional apparatus.
According to a further variant of the inventional method, which has also proved very effective, at least one gaseous medium, for example air or another suitable gas, is blown in a direction substantially opposite to the direction of rotation of the backing roll on the backing roll surface and/or substantially opposite to the traveling direction of the material web on the side of the latter near the backing roll. This prevents the air boundary layer entrained by the backing roll surface and the side of the material web near the backing roll from proceeding between the backing roll surface and the side of the material web facing the backing roll. Blowing is carried out by a suitable blowing system, such as illustrated, e.g., above in conjunction with the inventional apparatus.
In a further embodiment of the inventional method, in contrast, at least one gaseous medium is blown at at least one deflection element arranged at the point located in the entrance gore, The at least one deflection element directs the flow of discharging gaseous medium in a direction substantially opposite to the direction of rotation of the backing roll on the backing roll surface and/or substantially opposite to the traveling direction of the material web at its side facing the backing roll. In this way, too, the air boundary layer entrained by the backing roll surface and/or the material web side near the backing roll can be effectively prevented from entering between the backing roll surface and the side of the material web near the backing roll. Regarding design options of a suitable deflection element and of a corresponding blowing system, reference is made to the above explanations of the inventional apparatus.
According to still another variant of the inventional method, the air boundary layer entrained by the backing roll surface and/or the side of the material web near the backing roll is removed or deflected by scraping. As already indicated above, this may be effected with the aid of a suitable scraper element operating either with or without physically contacting the backing roll surface and/or the side of the material web near the backing roll.
The aforementioned steps of the method may be combined in the purport of the invention with an additional process step. According to the additional process step, the air boundary layer entrained by the side of the material web away from the backing roll is removed at another point located, in relation to the direction of rotation of the backing roll, before the point of coating application.